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Germany: Confirmation of local income with EU/EEA certificate (also known as Bescheinigung EU/EWR)
Last update: 6th Dec 2023
Published: 11th Mar 2020
Under certain conditions, people who live abroad and largely generate their income in Germany can be treated as subject to unlimited income tax in Germany.
The advantage of unlimited tax liability on the application is that - unlike limited tax liability - you can take advantage of all personal tax benefits as well as a whole range of family-related benefits. These include the tax deduction of special expenses.
Whether this is possible depends oncertain income limits
1. at least 90% of total worldwide income in a calendar,
or
2. foreign income that is not taxed in Germany must not exceed the basic tax-free allowance.
The limits reached out of Germany vary depending on:
- the year for which the tax return is filed,
- the country of income and the group to which the given country belongs.
The list of countries by the given years and groups:
| Full taxation | ¾ taxation | ½ taxation | ¼ taxation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group no. 1 2024 - 11 604 € 2023 - 10 908 € 2022 - 10 347 € 2021 - 9 744 € 2020 - 9 408 € | Group no. 2 2024 - 8 703 € 2023 - 8 181 € 2022 - 7 760,25 € 2021 - 7 308 € 2020 - 7 056 € | Group no. 3 2024 - 5 802 € 2023 - 5 454 € 2022 - 5 173,5 € 2021 - 4 872 € 2020 - 4 704 € | Group no. 4 2024 - 2 901 € 2023 - 2 727 € 2022 - 2 586,25 € 2021 - 2 436 € 2020 - 2 352 € |
| American Virgin Islands | Antigua and Barbuda | Albania | Afghanistan |
| Andorra | Aruba | American Samoa | Egypt |
| Australia | Bahamas* | Argentina | Algeria |
| Belgium | Bahrain | Armenia* | Angola |
| Bermuda | Barbados | Azerbaijan* | Equatorial Guinea* |
| British Virgin Islands | Brunei Darussalam* | Belarus | Ethiopia |
| Denmark | Cook Islands | Belize | Bangladesh |
| Faroe Islands | Curacao | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Benin |
| Finland | Estonia | Botswana | Bhutan |
| France | French Polynesia | Brazil | Bolivia, a multi-ethnic state |
| Gibraltar | Greece | Bulgaria | Burkina Faso |
| Greenland | Croatia | Chile* | Burundi |
| Guam | Latvia | China | Cape Verde |
| Hong Kong | Lithuania | Costa Rica | Ivory Coast |
| Isle of Man | Nauru* | Dominica | Djibouti |
| Ireland | Northern Mariana Islands | Dominican Republic | El Salvador |
| Iceland | Oman | Ecuador | Eritrea |
| Israel | Panama | Gabon | Eswatini |
| Italy | Poland | Georgia* | Fiji* |
| Japan | Portugal | Grenada | Gambia |
| Cayman Islands | Puerto Rico | Guatemala* | Ghana |
| Canada | Saudi Arabia | Guyana | Guinea |
| Channel Islands | Slovakia | Jamaica | Guinea Bissau |
| Qatar | Slovenia | Kazakhstan | Haiti |
| Korea, Republic of | Spain* | Colombia | Honduras |
| Kuwait | Saint Kitts and Nevis | Kosovo* | India |
| Liechtenstein | Saint Martin (French part) | Cuba | Indonesia |
| Luxembourg | Saint Martin (Dutch part) | Libya | Iraq* |
| Macau | Trinidad and Tobago | Malaysia | Iran, Islamic Republic* |
| Malta* | Czech Republic | Maldives | Yemen |
| Monaco | Turks and Caicos Islands | Marshall Islands | Jordan |
| New Caledonia | Hungary | Mauritius | Cambodia |
| New Zealand | Uruguay | Mexico | Cameroon |
| Netherlands | Cyprus | Moldova* | Kenya |
| Norway | - | Montenegro | Kyrgyzstan |
| Austria | - | Niue | Kiribati |
| Palestinian Territories | - | North Macedonia | Chambers |
| San Marino | - | Palau* | Congo |
| Sweden | - | Paraguay | Congo, Democratic Republic |
| Switzerland | - | Peru | Korea, Democratic People's Republic |
| Singapore | - | Romania | Laos, People's Democratic Republic |
| Taiwan | - | Russian Federation | Lesotho |
| Vatican | - | Serbia | Lebanon* |
| United Arab Emirates | - | Seychelles* | Liberia |
| United States | - | Saint Lucia | Madagascar |
| United Kingdom | - | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Malawi |
| - | - | South Africa | They had |
| - | - | Thailand | Morocco (including Western Sahara) |
| - | - | Turkey | Mauritania |
| - | - | Turkmenistan | Micronesia, Federated States |
| - | - | Tuvalu | Mongolia |
| - | - | - | Mozambique |
| - | - | - | Myanmar |
| - | - | - | Namibia* |
| - | - | - | Nepal |
| - | - | - | Nicaragua |
| - | - | - | Niger |
| - | - | - | Nigeria |
| - | - | - | Pakistan |
| - | - | - | Papua New Guinea |
| - | - | - | Philippines |
| - | - | - | Rwanda |
| - | - | - | Solomon Islands |
| - | - | - | Zambia |
| - | - | - | Samoa |
| - | - | - | Saint Thomas and Prince's Island |
| - | - | - | Senegal |
| - | - | - | Sierra Leone |
| - | - | - | Zimbabwe |
| - | - | - | Somalia |
| - | - | - | Sri Lanka |
| - | - | - | Sudan |
| - | - | - | South Sudan |
| - | - | - | Suriname* |
| - | - | - | Syria, Arab Republic |
| - | - | - | Tajikistan |
| - | - | - | Tanzania, United Republic |
| - | - | - | East Timor |
| - | - | - | Go |
| - | - | - | Tonga |
| - | - | - | Chad |
| - | - | - | Tunisia |
| - | - | - | Uganda |
| - | - | - | Ukraine |
| - | - | - | Uzbekistan |
| - | - | - | Vanuatu |
| - | - | - | Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic* |
| - | - | - | Vietnam |
| - | - | - | Central African Republic |
*The marked countries have been moved to different group from the year 2024.
The list of countries moved within groups:
| Country | Moving between groups |
|---|---|
| Equatorial Guinea | from group no. 3 to group no. 4 |
| Armenia | from group no. 4 to group no. 3 |
| Azerbaijan | from group no. 4 to group no. 3 |
| Bahamas | from group no. 1 to group no. 2 |
| Belize | from group no. 4 to group no. 3 |
| Brunei Darussalam | from no. group 1 to group no. 2 |
| Chile | from group no. 2 to group no. 3 |
| Fiji | from group no. 3 to group no. 4 |
| Georgia | from group no. to group no. 3 |
| Guatemala | from group no. 4 to group no. 3 |
| Iraq | from group no. 3 to group no. 4 |
| Iran, Islamic Republic | from group no. 3 to group no. 4 |
| Kosovo | from group no. 4 to group no. 3 |
| Lebanon | from group no. 3 to group no. 4 |
| Morta | from group no. 2 to group no. 1 |
| Moldova | from group no. 4 to group no. 3 |
| Namibia | from group no. 3 to group no. 4 |
| Nauru | from group no. 3 to group no. 2 |
| Palau | from group no. 2 to group no. 3 |
| Seychelles | from group no. 2 to group no. 3 |
| Spain | from group no. 1 to group no. 2 |
| Suriname | from group no. 3 to group no. 4 |
| Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic | from group no. 3 to group no. 4 |
There is a special advantage if you are a citizen of an EU/EEA member state and your spouse or child resides in an EU/EEA member state. In such cases you can also benefit from family-related tax benefits. This primarily includes the joint assessment with the splitting tariff or wage tax deduction according to tax class III. All you need is to have an EWR.
The EWR Bescheinigung is a form that is filled out and validated by your local tax office (based on your permanent residence) which confirms the amount of income from your home country. The German income is not stated there.
The forms, including the one for Non-EU citizens, are available in several languages and can be downloaded from our website.
Read also:
EU/EWR form for tax refunds from Germany, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg
What is the EU/EWR form or the Foreign Income Tax Return Confirmation and what is it for?
The EWR Bescheinigung is used not only in Germany but also in Belgium and Luxembourg.